Chapter 17

“What the fuck do you mean, you can’t find him?”

Van’s angry snarl was directed at the man on the screen, and for once, Lucky couldn’t say he blamed him.

After rescheduling this meeting three different times over the past week, SECNAV had finally gotten back to them about the CIA’s so-called asset. The entire team had, yet again, rearranged their entire schedules to make this one, and now they were being told the asset—a man who’d previously reported he had vital intel regarding their last mission as SEALs, as well as their fallen brother’s murder—was nowhere to be found?

Another dead fucking end.

“Take it down a notch, Braddock,” Secretary Webb ordered Van to chill. “I want to find this guy as badly as you do.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“We know you’re doing what you can, Sir,” Chase quickly intervened. “It’s just really frustrating when we keep coming up against a bunch of damn walls.”

Lucky’s lips twitched with the urge to smile at his younger teammate.

Always the peacemaker.

“I understand that more than you know, Boyer.” Naval Secretary gave his head a grim nod. “And I assure you, I have my best people from all over the globe looking for Farzad Akimi. If he’s out there, we will find him.”

Farzad Akimi. A name that, a little over a week ago, Lucky had never heard of. Now, he was the one person Lucky wanted to see more than anyone else in the world. Aside from Ellie, of course.

My Ellie.

The group of men sitting around the table continued listening as SECNAV went on about the heroic efforts he and his “people” were making to find the only real lead the team has had in nearly a year, but Lucky was only half-listening.

Partially because the song-and-dance Webb was performing was the same bit they’d heard countless times before. The real distraction that had been pulling Lucky’s attention away all damn day was the woman who’d spent last night—and the night before—wrapped up in his arms.

Ellie’s gorgeous face filled his vision as it had since they’d kissed each other goodbye a few hours before.

It was funny. He’d never pictured himself as a kiss-the-wife-before-leaving-for-work kind of guy. But now, with her…

She’s not your wife, dumbass.

No, she wasn’t. But that could change, right? Someday. If he didn’t fuck this whole thing up before then. And wasn’t that a kick in the nuts he hadn’t seen coming?

He didn’t just want a serious, monogamous relationship with a woman. He craved it. But only with Ellie.

Always with her.

It was crazy, right? He had to be certifiable to think a guy like him could make a woman like Eloise Fisher happy.

Oh, I dunno. You seemed to make her laugh quite a bit yesterday.

The memory of her standing statue still while he’d practically vomited his feelings about wanting to date her was so fresh in his mind. But it was her reaction to his rambled spiel that left his mouth curving into a low, one-sided grin.

Mach Jesus? Really?

Lucky cleared his throat to conceal the bubble of laughter threatening to work its way out. Ellie had made her feelings damn clear when it came to revealing their brand new romance to the others. Not yet, she’d said. Just in case things don’t work out.

He hadn’t argued, but only because he, too, wasn’t quite ready to face Archer’s big-brothereseque wrath. Not that Lucky was afraid of his teammate. He just wasn’t in the mood for confrontation.

Not today. Not when he knew Ellie would be waiting for him when he got home.

“What about you, Luck?” Logan’s deep voice reached through his ill-timed thoughts, promptly bringing him back to the present. “You have any questions for Secretary Webb before he signs off?”

“Me?” Lucky looked at the others sitting around the table before landing his gaze on the screen behind Logan. “Nope.” He shook his head. “I’m good.”

He had no idea what they’d talked about for oh, say, the last several minutes. But other than that…

“I’ll be in contact as soon as I know more.” SECNAV gave them a parting dip of his chin. “Gentlemen.”

The screen went black, and the meeting was officially over.

“Such bullshit,” Van grumbled as he pushed his muscular form into a standing position.

“It is what it is, brother.” Chase stood. “Not like this is the first time we’ve hit a dud where that mission is concerned.”

“I’m willing to bet it won’t be our last.” Archer started for the door. “But we can only do what we can do, you know?” He slapped a supportive hand on the back of Van’s broad shoulder as the two men approached the secured door.

Turning the knob, Logan nodded in agreement. “Nash is right.” He pulled the door open and stepped into the hall. “Just because Akimi’s MIA doesn’t mean we give up.”

“No easy day, eh, Van?” Boyer sent their stoic teammate a grin.

Van’s only response was his signature grunt.

“So what now?” Lucky asked the others as they made their way into the firm’s reception area.

A still locked, still empty reception area.

What the…

“Hey, wasn’t Natalie supposed to fill in for Hannah after the girls got done at the dress shop?” Chase’s question was meant for Logan.

“She was,” their team leader confirmed his wife’s offer to help out while their young office manager was away at a friend’s funeral. Looking down at his watch, Logan added, “I figured she’d be here by n—”

The peeling of a phone ringing cut off the rest of what Logan was going to say.

“Here’s Cass, now.” Archer had already pulled his phone free from his back pocket and was swiping finger across the screen. “Hey, baby. The guys and I were just—” The man stopped talking, his expression morphing from happy to shocked to worry, and then… “What? Jesus, are you okay?”

The man sprinted for the door, and Lucky’s stomach dropped like a lead ballon. “What is it?” He and the others blindly began to follow. “What’s wrong?”

A level of rage he’d only seen in Archer’s dark eyes a handful of times met his as his friend yanked the office door open. “Someone opened fire on the girls when they were walking to their cars.”

Oh, God.

“But they’re okay, right? I mean, you’re talking to Cassie, so that means—”

Logan’s phone chose that moment to ring. Relief struck the man’s worried face, but his respite was short-lived when he looked at his phone and realized…

“It’s not Nat.” Logan frowned. “It’s…the hospital.”

Van cursed low behind them while Chase breathed out a few of his own.

“Ah, Christ.” Archer’s gut-wrenched gaze flew to Logan’s. “Hayes, man—”

“This is Logan Hayes,” Logan ignored Archer’s intended words to answer the call. “Yes, Natalie Hayes is my wife. Is she…”

The entire elevator was silent as the five-man team waited for whatever news Logan was about to share.

“Oh, thank God.” The man’s shoulders dropped with a long exhale. “She’s okay,” Logan told them. “A bullet grazed her arm, but she’s…” He stopped, as if something else had just occurred to him. And when Logan began speaking to the person on the phone once more, it suddenly made perfect sense. “What about the baby?”

“Baby?” Chase’s wide eyes shot to Logan’s. “What baby?”

“You’re sure?” Logan’s hopeful tone held promise. “Y-yes, of course. But…you’re sure they’re both okay?” The man’s watery eyes fell shut, and he tipped his head back as if to give thanks to God above. “Okay,” he spoke once more. “Just…please tell her I’m on my way.”

He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. At the same time, Archer was saying much of the same to Cassie.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.” A slight pause and then, “I know, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay. I promise. I’ll see you soon.” Another pause, and then, “Hey, Cass? I love you.”

Seconds later Archer was off the phone, and Lucky was still trying to figure out what the fuck had happened.

“Baby?” Chase glances around at them all before staring back at Logan. “There’s a baby?”

A war of emotions raged on behind the man’s hazel stare even as he nodded. “We, uh…we were going to wait to say anything, just to be safe. But yeah.” Logan’s lips curved ever so slightly. “Nat’s pregnant.” He swallowed. “She’s right at two-and-half months.”

Somber congratulations were given, but Lucky couldn’t think of new life and joy when he still didn’t know the fate of the woman who’d stolen his heart.

Archer ended his call with Cassie and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Cass said the girls had just left the shop and were walking back to their cars when a van pulled up and an asshole in a mask jumped out and opened fire.”

“The fuck?” The news clearly pissed off Chase.

Truth be told, every man in that elevator was already running at lethal fucking levels, and they still didn’t know hardly any of the facts.

“You said Nat was grazed, but okay?” Lucky looked at Logan. “And Cass is—”

“Fine,” Archer breathed another sigh of relief. “She banged up her knee trying to take cover, but thankfully, she wasn’t hit.”

“Thank God for small favors.” Logan and the other man shared a common look.

It was the look of two men who came damn close to losing the women they loved. Again. And when Lucky caught his own reflection in the moving cart’s mirrored back wall, he realized…

I have that same look, except—

“There is something else,” Archer started as the elevator came to a stop. It dinged, the doors opened, and he and the others hurried into the building’s main lobby. “It’s…” The man ran a tortured hand through his thick hair. “Fuck, man. It’s Ellie.”

“Ellie?” A jolt of fear slammed into him. “What about—”

“The bastard took her.” Archer met Lucky’s widened stare.

A loud, collective “What the fuck?” followed as every other man there—Lucky included—fought to process what their teammate had just shared.

Lucky stumbled to a stop. “The fuck you mean, he took her?”

“Just that.” Archer stopped and turned to face him. “Cass said he jumped out of that fucking van, started shooting at them, and while he had her and Nat pinned down, the asshole grabbed Ellie, threw her in a van, and took off.”

Lucky couldn’t move. He couldn’t fucking think. And for a minute there, he was pretty sure his heart had completely stopped beating.

God, no. Not Ellie. Please, not her!

He glanced at his phone for what felt like the millionth time since Archer’s had rang, as if she would magically pick that moment to call or text. “She and I are supposed to have dinner together.” Shock left him feeling as if he were in stuck in a thick, immovable fog. “I was going to take her to that new Asian place over on Main. It was going to be our first official date.”

The words had tumbled freely from his lips, and he didn’t have the wherewithal to stop them.

So much for keeping that a secret.

“A date?” Archer scowled, the former SEAL becoming more and more angry with each new word he spoke. “Ellie’s been kidnapped, and you’re worried about a fucking date? Jesus, Jason.” He got right up in Lucky’s face. “Is that all you fucking think about? And what happened to keeping your hands off, huh? Let me guess, you already fucked her, didn’t you?”

“Don’t!” Lucky’s hands shot out before he even realized he was moving. Shoving Archer hard in the chest, the other man stumbled back form the force, and Lucky couldn’t bring himself to feel a bit bad. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that!”

“I’ll talk about her any way I want, you son of a bitch. You fucking promised!” Archer shoved him back. “You looked me right in the eye and told me you would keep your hands to your fucking self. But that was too much to ask for the great Lucky Lucas, right? You just couldn’t resist getting into her—”

“Fuck you!” Lucky’s fist flew toward Archer’s face.

His knuckles slammed into his friend’s jaw in a blow so powerful, the other man flew off his feet and onto the marble tile below. Standing over his downed teammate—and with a captive audience of three surrounding them—Lucky made his point crystal fucking clear.

“What has or hasn’t happened between me and El is no one’s business but ours. Yes, I broke my promise, but it wasn’t just so I could add another notch to my belt. Which, by the way, has a shit ton less holes in it than any of you like to think.” Spittle flew from his angry lips, but Lucky drew in a deep breath and finished what he needed to say. “I care about her, Arch. More than I ever thought possible. Now, you can believe that or not. It’s your choice. But right now, you and Hayes need to get to the hospital to check on your women.” He offered the other man a helpful hand and waited.

At first, he didn’t think Archer would accept the help, but then the explosives expert reached up and placed his hand in his. Giving his arm a good, strong pull, Lucky helped his friend back up to his feet, and the two men shared a look that said it all.

“Go. Be with your fiancée.” Lucky turned to head back toward the elevator.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“You know where your girl is, Arch.” He slapped the round button lit up on the elevator’s external panel. “I’m going to go find mine.”

With his gaze bouncing between them, Chase said, “Wait up! I’ll stay and help.”

As he jogged to catch up with Lucky, Van turned and started toward the elevator, as well. “Lucky’s right,” he told Logan and Archer. “You two go be where you’re needed. Boyer and I will stay with Lucky.”

Though they both appeared torn by the decision, Archer and Logan shared a quick nod before Logan told them, “Okay, but we’ll keep our phones on us at all times, so you call one of us the secondyou find something.”

“I will,” Lucky vowed.

“I’m sure the SPD is already involved, so I’ll get with Knox and see what they know about our perp,” Archer offered. “Anything useful pops up, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.” He gave his teammate—his friend—an appreciative nod. “And…sorry about the jaw.”

“Nah, man.” Archer gave the reddened area a careful rub. “This one’s on me. We’ll talk more once we find Ellie, but…you’re right. I’ve judged you for something that apparently wasn’t even true.” His brown gaze fell on the others. “Hell, we all have, so for that…I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, man.” Chase gave Lucky’s arm a friendly nudge. “Me, too.”

When Chase’s teal eyes landed on Van’s, the big guy just arched a black brow and shrugged. “What? I ain’t apologizing for shit.” To Lucky, he kept his tone flat when he suggested, “You don’t want people to see you as a shallow, uncaring womanizer, then don’t fucking act like one.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation—and the damn near overwhelming terror he felt for Ellie—Lucky felt his mouth curve and his chest bounce with a laugh. “Spoken like a true poet, Braddock.”

The doors to the elevator opened and the three men stepped back inside the shiny metal cart.

“Just call it like I see it, brother,” Van muttered as he moved past Lucky on his way to one of the elevator’s back corners.

As he did, the seemingly cold, uncaring bastard laid a hand on one of Lucky’s shoulders before giving it a friendly squeeze.

That was the thing with Van. Most of the time, he did come off as a cold, uncaring bastard. But deep down, Lucky knew inlay a selfless warrior with a heart of gold.

Guess I haven’t been the only one wearing a mask.

Speaking of masks…

Lucky waited on pins and needles for the elevator to reach their floor. When it did, he couldn’t exit the damn thing fast enough.

“So…what’s the plan?” Chase rushed to catch up.

“I’m going to find Ellie,” he growled. “That’s the fucking plan.”

It was the only plan. His one and only goal. First, find Ellie and then…

The ‘then’ doesn’t matter. All you have is right here. Right now.

The voice in his head was right. He needed to stay focused on the most important thing, which was finding Ellie before it was too late.

Everything else could wait.

“No shit.” Chase shot him a scowl. “I meant how are we going to find her? We don’t even know who took her, for crying out loud.”

No, they fucking didn’t. But they would. If it was the very last thing Lucky did, he would find the son of a bitch who’d dared touch what wasn’t his. And when he did…

I’m going to fucking kill him.

From that very first touch, he’d been hers. And though she might not realize it, she was his.

I’ll find you, baby. I swear to Christ, I will.

Lucky entered his code into the electronic keypad mounted next to the office’s main door. The locks disengaged, and a tiny green light appeared, letting him know the alarm had been successfully disarmed, and it was safe to walk inside.

He marched straight through the reception area and down the hall, not stopping until he got to the last door on the right. Entering another code, Lucky went through the same process to re-enter their so-called Conference Room…A.K.A., their war room.

“I’m guessing you have a plan?” Van rumbled as the three men entered the secured space.

Almost as one, they passed the conference table, through a couple of paired desks, and up the few steps onto a platform designed specifically for Lucky.

“I’m going to access the CCTV footage from the street where the bridal shop’s located. I’m also going to get security footage from the garage where the abduction took place. With any luck, I can get a plate or something to go on that will give us a lead as to who this bastard is.” And where he’d taken sweet Ellie.

“What can we do?” Chase asked.

Lucky pulled out his rolling chair and plopped his ass down so he could get to work. “For now? See if you can get ahold of Knox. I know Arch said he would, but he needs to focus on Cassie.”

The poor woman had already survived a near-fatal shooting once before. He could only imagine the trauma this latest incident had created.

“Done.” Chase retrieved his own cell and began making calls.

“What can I do?” Van offered his services, as well.

“Honestly?” Lucky met the man’s black stare and shook his head. “I don’t know. Hell, I thought the threat to her was over, so…” He shook his head in disgust. “The cops were convinced Harvey was the one terrorizing Ellie, and…this hasn’t been released to the public yet, but…that cabin they found him in? It was like a fucking shrine to Ellie. One of the walls was covered in pictures of her, Van.” Thinking about it still made him feel sick. “I saw the crime scene photos, myself. Between the pics of her—all clearly taken without her knowledge—and the accelerant they found there, I thought—”

“We all did,” Van was quick to point out. “As soon as you got word to Hayes that Harvey had offed himself, and Hayes spread the good news to the rest of us, we all considered it case closed. So if you’re going to sit there and blame yourself for what’s happened to Ellie, then you’d better damn well be prepared to blame the rest of us, too.”

“You don’t understand.” His fists balled tightly in his lap. “You weren’t the one who was supposed to be protecting her.”

A dark shadow crossed over the man’s black stare, and his expression turned hard as stone. “I understand better than you think, brother.”

Something about the way he’d said it made Lucky think maybe, just maybe he actually did.

There’s a story there. Probably a damn good one. But it’s one that’s going to have to wait until later.

“Sorry, man. I’m just…”

“Worried.”

“Yeah.” Lucky nodded. “But sitting around whining about it isn’t going to do Ellie any good, so…” He pulled himself up to his desk and got to work.

Twenty very long, very nerve-wracking minutes later, and he’d not only accessed the footage from the CCTV cameras and the parking garage’s security feed, but he’d watched the abduction from every angle possible.

Many, many times.

And if he thought he was ready to kill the bastard who’d taken her before…

I want to rip out his fucking heart with my bare hands and shove it down the asshole’s throat.

Lucky had heard of being heartsick before, but until today, he’d never experienced it himself. But that was exactly how he felt. His heart was sick. Aching. Filled with so much fear for what Ellie may be going through, that he’d actually stopped and physically rubbed his chest several times in hopes of easing the pain.

It didn’t work. Nothing worked. And he knew the only thing that could possibly make him feel whole again was seeing her beautiful, smiling face, and knowing she was okay.

Lucky also knew the only way that would ever happen was if he and the others could get to her…before it was too late.

Please, baby. Please be okay.

His fingers flew across the keyboard once again.

“What are you searching for?” Chase asked from the seat to Lucky’s right.

“I hacked into Ellie’s server and accessed her client files. Both past and present. Now I’m cross-referencing those names with any recent illegal activity within the SPD’s database. Specifically, a stolen panel van belonging to a satellite company.” He shrugged. “The logo could be fake, but I figured it was as good a place to start as any.”

“That’s smart.”

“Only if it works.”

Minutes later, his computer notified him of a match.

“Does that mean what I think it does?” Van asked.

“Don’t get too excited just yet.” Lucky clicked on the highlighted name. “All this means is that the name matches one in the system, and it has a connection to one of Ellie’s cases. Could just mean the guy’s a new client, or his case simply hasn’t cleared the system.”

Lucky read the information on the screen. Then he clicked a few more keys, and read some more.

The longer more keys he pressed, the more hopeful he became. And after several more minutes and even more silent prayers, Lucky’s fingers froze and his eyes widened with surprise.

“Holy shit.”

“What”

“I think I found her. Or, at least the son of a bitch who took her.” He enlarged the image on the screen.

“Who the hell is that?” Van frowned.

“Larry Knowles,” Lucky said the man’s name aloud. “Guy’s got a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly petty drug charges, but he did a couple decent stints upstate in the past few years.”

“How’s he connected to Ellie?”

Lucky turned to Chase and shook his head. “He’s not. Not directly, anyway. But his brother is.” He pulled up another image. It was a mugshot, and the man staring back at the camera looked like the piece of shit Lucky now knew him to be. “This is Leonard Knowles,” he explained. “Meth dealer extraordinaire, but he’s also in gun sales, prostitution…you name it, he’s in it. Or at least, he was until a few weeks ago.”

“What happened a few weeks ago?” Chase asked.

“He was convicted on a slew of charges surrounding the meth lab he was running from inside his home. A home where the wife he beat and the man’s young son still lived, by the way.”

“I still don’t get how this helps us.”

“I’m getting there.” The faster the better. “Ellie’s old boss convinced her to return to Tacoma for the guy’s trial. From what I found, she was the prosecutor in Knowles’ original trial, but that was thrown out on a technicality. When they were able to make a case that would stick, she went back and retried the piece of shit.” He ran a hand over his weary jaw. “Ellie gave closing arguments just last week.”

“And?” Van prodded.

Lucky met his teammate’s gaze. “Leonard Knowles was convicted and sentenced to a long damn time behind bars.”

A low whistle sounded as Chase linked his hands together and rested them on the top of his head. “That’s definitely motive.”

“And if the siblings were close, it stands to reason the younger would want revenge on those he blames for his brother’s conviction.

“Exactly.” Lucky nodded. “Now I just need to wait on my other program to—”

He couldn’t even finish the words before the other program he’d been referring to also pinged him with a hit.

No way, he could be this lucky. Could he?

I mean, it is your nickname, dumbass.

Point well taken, Lucky decided to put his luck to the test. Fingers moving at lightning speed, he brought up the information the system had just alerted him to. When he did, his faith that he would find Ellie erupted tenfold.

Holy fuck, it worked!

“Guys, it’s him.” He said it as fact because, well, it was the only answer that made sense. “Knowles is definitely our guy.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Here.” He pointed to a box on the screen. “Look at his last known place of employment.” The other two men leaned closer.

“Son of a…”

“That’s the same satellite company as the one on the van.”

Lucky nodded excitedly. “And guess which company reported one of their vans stolen two days ago?”

“Okay, this is obviously a great lead,” Chase began, “but we still have to figure out where this Knowles jerkoff took Ellie.”

“Patience, my young sniper friend.” Lucky was totally in his element as he continued searching for what he prayed would lead them to her. “Okay, here it is.” He read the screen. “Okay, so the company has GPS on all of their vehicles, but of course, assholes like Knowles are smart enough to disable that shit first thing. What he didn’t do was disable the GPS on his phone.”

“You’re kidding?”

Lucky’s lips curled into a sinister grin. “I’d never kid about this, Boyer.” Not when they were talking about Ellie’s well-being. “Cocky bastard thought he was in the clear by unplugging the tracker on the van, and he probably figured his connection to El was so ambiguous, no one would ever make the connection.” A few more clicks and—

His heart kicked itself back to life.

“Holy hell, you did it.” Chase’s excitement was obvious. “You did do it, right? That’s where Knowles is right now?”

Lucky jumped to his feet and grabbed his phone and tablet from the desk. “He’s there.” He studied the map, quickly entering the address into his tablet. “Come on.” He spun on his heels and ran. “I’ll drive,” he announced, skipping three whole steps as he leaped from the platform. “Van, you call Logan and fill him in. Boyer, can you put a call into Detective Knox, and let him know to meet us—”

“On it.” The team’s lead sniper was already grabbing his phone.

Bypassing the elevator, Lucky hit the stairwell and raced down the stairs. The GPS on Larry Knowles’ phone showed him at a private estate seven minutes from where they were. He hadn’t had a chance to look up the owner’s name, but he’d talk Van through that on the drive there.

Most of the time, in situations such as these, Lucky would sit in either the back seat or the passenger’s. Easier to work his magic on the tablet that way.

But he was too keyed up just to sit and stare at a flashing dot on a screen, praying the damn thing didn’t vanish before his very eyes. More than that, Lucky was too anxious. He was too fucking afraid.

He was scared they’d get to their destination, and she wouldn’t be there. Or worse, he was terrified they’d arrive too late, and she’d already be…God, he could barely even think it…

Dead.

No!

Lucky refused to let his mind go there. As far as he was concerned, Ellie was alive and unharmed and waiting for him.

I’m coming, El. We’re not far, baby. I just need you to hang in there a few minutes longer. I’ve got you.

Those last three words had been promised to her before, when they’d first made love. Lucky had kept good on his promise then, and he was damn sure going to keep good on it now.